Indiana State University Newsroom

Trustees endorse Scott College, Welcome Center projects

December 17, 2010

Indiana State University's Scott College of Business is another step closer to having a new home following action Friday by the university's Board of Trustees.

The board authorized the university administration to seek state approval to sell $9 million in student fee bonds to help finance the $19 million renovation of the former Terre Haute Federal Building. The remaining $10 million cost of the project is being financed by private gifts.

"We're just excited to get the remodel of the Federal Building moving forward," President Daniel Bradley said.

The project will include reconfiguring the interior of the 1930s-era Art Deco building to accommodate the Scott College's academic programs, upgrading heating and air conditioning to improve temperature controls and air quality, installing information technology systems and meeting requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Plans call for the Scott College to relocate in time for the fall 2012 semester.

Trustees also moved forward on another building project, granting the administration authority to seek state approval for the renovation of the Family and Consumer Sciences Building, at a cost not to exceed $3 million.

The building will serve as the new home for the university's Welcome Center. Funding for the Welcome Center project will come from university reserve funds.

"Having a one-stop Welcome Center located at the very core of campus to serve prospective students and their families will be a tremendous asset to our recruiting efforts," said John Beacon, vice president for enrollment management, marketing, and communications. "Families will begin and end their visit at the Center, where every aspect of their stays will be hosted by trained professionals who ensure their stays on campus provide them with tours of key buildings and opportunities to meet with housing, scholarship, academic and residence life personnel."

Academic programs in the Family and Consumer Sciences Building will be relocated prior to fall 2011. Upon completion, the new Welcome Center will house enrollment services offices now in Erickson Hall and Erickson will be renovated to serve its original purpose as a residence hall.

"This is part of the 10-year plan for student housing to return it to its original use," said Diann McKee, university treasurer. "To do that, we need to relocate the occupants."

In other action, ISU trustees:• Approved revisions in the university's health benefits plan to comply with new federal health care legislation and an increase in monthly premiums ranging from $9 to $29 per year, depending on employees' salary levels,• Approved changing the name of the department of music to School of Music, a change intended to give the ISU music program a more equal standing with comparable institutions, according to Jack Maynard, the university's provost and vice president for academic affairs.• Approved delegating enforcement of the tobacco policy to the administration.